Automatic sanding device.



No. 739,386 iatented September 22, 1903.

V UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

. WILL FRED. GADY, or ARRIsoNvALLEY, PENNSYLVANIA.

- A TQMATI .Si ZN'mNQ D SPEGIFIGATION forming partof Letters Patent No. 739,386, dated September 22, 1903. Application filed June 16,1903, Serial No- 161,665. (No model.)

To all, whom it mag aoncern: Y 8. Said wheel 8 is fixed upon a short shaft Be it known that I, WILL FRED. OADY, a

citizen of the United States, residing at'Harrison Valley, in the county of Potterand State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Sanding Devices 5 and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of-the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same. 1 v

My invention relates to certainnewand useful improvements in sanding devices for railroad-work, and more particularly to a device for automatically applying sand to the track whenever the necessity arises.

The object of the invention is to "produce a device of this character which will be very efficient in operation, automatically sanding the track-rails whenever the drive-wheels slip either in the stopping or starting of the engine. f

A further object is toproduce a device of simple, durable, and comparatively inexpensive construction.

With these and other objects in view the invention consists of certain novel features of construction, combination, and arrangement of parts, as willbe more fully described, and particularly pointed 'out in the appended claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a bottom plan view of my improved device, showing the same applied to a portion of the engine or motor-car, the latter being conventionally illustrated. Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view through the same. Fig. 3 is a detail vertical sectional view'taken' on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is adetail view of the interior of the sand-box. Fig. 5 is a detail view of one of the gears.

Referring to the drawings by numerals, 1 denotes a portion of the frame of a railroadlocomotive or other motor-car; 2 and 3, the axles; 4, the drive-wheels upon the drive-axle 2, and 5 the small supporting-wheels upon the ax e 3.

Upon the axle 3.is secured the sprocketwheel 6, which is connected by the sprocketchain 7 to a similar but larger sprocket-wheel 9, which is journaled in suitable bearings upon the frame 1.

Upon the shaft 9 is loosely mounted a gearwheel 10, which is adapted to belocked to turn in one direction-with the shaft, but is free to'turn independently in the opposite direction. This is accomplished by providing one face of the gear with the pivoted pawls 11, which are held in engagement with the'r'atchet-wheel12 by the springs 13. The

ratchet 12 isfixed to the shaft 9 in order that 'when -the latter is rotated in one direction the ratchet-teeth will engage the pawls and cause the gear to turn with the shaft. When the gear or the shaft is rotated in the reverse direction, the pawls will ride over the ratchetteeth, as will be readily understood upon reference to Fig. 5 of thedrawings. The gear 10 is in mesh with a similar gear-wheel 14,

secured upon a shaft 15, which is journaled in suitable bearings upon the frame 1.

The drive-axle 2 carries the fixed sprocketwheel 16, which is connected by the sprocketchain 17 to a fixed sprocket-wheel 18 upon a shaft 19. The sprocket-chain 17 is somewhat slack to permit the shaft 19 to have limited vertical movement with its swinging bearings or hangers 20 for a purpose hereinafter explained.

Loosely mounted upon the'shaft-19 is a gearwheel 21, which is in mesh wit-hthe gear 14 and which is adapted to rotate with the shaft 19 by frictional contact with the sprocket 18. The gear is adapted to be held against the sprocket by-the sliding sle'e've'22, which is loose upon the shaft. A coil-spring 23 upon the shaft between said sleeve 22 and a fixed nut or collar 24 is adapted to force said sleeve against said gear. This collar or nut is'made adjustable to permit the tension of the'spring to be varied. is

The sleeve 22 is formed with-a groove 26 to receive the forked end 27 of 'apivoted shifting lever 28. This lever is adapted tobe-operated automatically by the downwardly-projecting curved arm or trip 29 upon the frame 1. It will be seen that when the shaft 19 is moved upwardly in a manner hereinafter described the lever 28 will engage and ride up 100 the curved arm 29, which will shift said lever l to relieve the pressure of the sleeve 22 in order to release or partially release the gear 21.

The sand-box 30 may be mounted in any manner upon the engine or motor-car upon which the device is used, and consists of the box or receptacle to contain the sand which is fed to the track through the feed pipe or pipes 31. In the center of the bottom of this box is a pivoted plate 32, one end of which projects through a slot in the side of the box. Said plate is provided with suitable holes or apertures 33, which are adapted to register with similar holes 34 in the bottom of the box when the plate is in one position in order to permit the sand to pass from the box into the feed-pipe 31. When the plate is oscillated or shifted to throw the holes 33 and 34 out of register, the feed of the sand will be stopped.

The outer end of the plate 32 has a loose pivotal connection with one arm of a bellcrank lever 35, which is pivoted upon the outside of the sand-box. The other arm of said lever is formed with a series of apertures or openings, in one of which the upper end of a connecting-rod 36 is pivoted. The lower end of this red is pivotally connected to the shaft 19, so that when said shaft is raised the bellcrank lever 35 will be operated to move the valve-plate 32 to its open position and feed the sand to the track.

The operation of the invention is as follows: When the various parts of the invention are in the position shown in Figs. land 2 of the drawings, the forward movement of the engine, under normal conditions, will set the gearing in motion and move the same in the direction of the arrows, as seen in Fig. 2. The shaft 9 will be positively driven by means of the chain 7 and sprockets 8 and 6. The shaft 19 will also be positively driven from the drive-shaft 2 by means of the chain 17 and sprockets 16 and 18. Both shafts 9 and 19 will tend to drive the shaft 15 through the gears 10, 14, and 21; but owing to the frictional connection of the gear 21 and the pawland-ratchet connection of the gear 10 any difference in the speed of rotation of the two shafts will be compensated for, so as to prevent breaking of the parts. When the engine is in motion and the brakes are applied to the drive-wheels 4, the shafts 2and 19 will be prevented from rotation and the gear 21- upon shaft 19 will resist the rotation of the gear 14, which is driven from the shaft 3 by means of the gearing connecting the two. The gear 21 resists rotation by reason of its frictional engagement with the sprocket 18 upon the shaft 19; but since the shaft 19 is mounted in the swinging bearings or hangers 20 the gear 21 will travel up the gear 14, and thereby elevate the shaft 19, which through the rod 36 and lever 35 will open the valve 32 in the sandbox and permit sand to be discharged on the rails, as previously explained. The upward movement of the shaft 19 will bring the shifting lever 28 into engagement with the curved arm 29, which will partially relieve the frictional contact of the gear 21 with the sprocket 18, and thereby permit the gear 21 to be rotated by the gear 14. As the speed of the train slackens or when the train stops the motion of the gear 14 will cease and the shaft 19 and its supported parts will lower to their normal position by reason of their own weight, and thus close the sandvalve 32. In starting the engine should the drive-wheels spin upon the track-rails the shafts 2 and 19 will be rotated and the gear 21 will tend to rotate the gear 14, which will be held back because of the failure of the shaft 3 to rotate, and owing to this tendency of the gear 14 not to rotate the gear 21 will ride up on the same, and thereby elevate the shaft 19 to open the sand-valve, as previously explained. It will be understood that owing to the pawl-and-ratchet connection to the gear 10 the gear 14 will not be entirely prevented from rotating; but the move mentof the same will be hard, owing to the friction of the parts.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, the construction and operation of the invention will be readily understood without requiring a more extended explanation.

Various changes in the form, proportion, and the minor details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the principle or sacrificing any of the advantages of this invention.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a device of the character described, the combination with the frame of the engine or motor-car, the axles of the same and a sand receptacle or box having a discharge-valve, of gearing between the axles, and connections between said gearing and valve whereby upon the-starting or stopping of one of said axles, said valve will be operated, substantially as described.

2. In a device of the character described,

the gear upon shaft 15, a sprocket wheel and chain connection between said shaft 19 and the other of said axles, and a connection between said shaft 19 and said valve in the sand-receptacle, substantially as described.

3. In a device of the character described, the combination with the frame of the engine or motor-car, the axles of the same and a sand receptacle or box having a discharge-valve,

of the shafts 9 and 15, a sprocket wheel and axles, connections between the shaft 19 and chain connection between said shaft'9 and the valvein said sand-receptacle, and means one of said axles, a gear upon the shaft 9 for disengaging the frictionally-locked gear having a pawl-and-ratchet connection with .upon the shaft 19, substantially as described. 15 5 the same, a gear upon the shaft meshing with In testimony whereof I have hereunto set the said gear, the shaft 19 mounted in swingmy hand in presence of two subscribing witing bearings, a gear upon said shaft 19 mesh nesses.

ing with the gear upon the shaft 15, means 7 WILL FRED. ()ADY. for frictionally locking said gear to the shaft -Witnesses: IO 19, a sprocket wheel and chain connection L. J. ROBERTS,

between said shaft 19 and the other of said 1 HORACE 'HOLCOMB. 

